Morecambe schoolboy diagnosed with brain tumour after he draws his headache on an Etch A Sketch

A schoolboy used an Etch A Sketch to draw his 'headache that never went away' and helped doctors diagnose a life-threatening brain tumour.

Months after medics told Emre Erulkeroglu’s family that there was nothing wrong with him, his drawing worried his mum Tiffani so much that she pushed again to get help.

It was only then that a fresh brain scan led to the diagnosis of a life-threatening brain tumour.

Emre’s first symptom came on Mother’s Day 2015 when he woke and told Tiffani he had a bad headache.

Emre Erulkeroglu with his Etch A Sketch drawing.

“Within minutes he was lying in a drowsy state on the sofa but was screaming in pain every time he vomited,” she said.

“We took him to A&E where his headache disappeared due to the vomiting and we were told to go home as they thought it was just a migraine.”

Emre’s early morning headaches persisted for several weeks.

Following an online search Tiffani came across a HeadSmart campaign which lists symptoms and warning signs for brain tumours in children.

Emre Erulkeroglu with dad Huseyin, mum Tiffani, sister Esra and aunt Emine Cobanoglu and uncle Apo.

She said: “He was displaying red flag symptoms that were on the HeadSmart website so I went to the doctors on several occasions.”

Lancaster Road Primary School pupil Emre had a neurological examination after which doctors assured Tiffani that her son was fine.

“One doctor even told me to stop asking him daily if he had a headache as I could be making him think he had one,” she said, “so I relaxed slightly thinking I was making him worse and that it could be migraines.”

However, a few weeks later Emre drew a picture showing a black dot on his forehead and told Tiffani that it was “the headache that never went away.”